French VFX Firm Quinta Industries Closes

Paris-based post-production and vfx house Quinta Industries has closed, reports Variety. Part of Tarak Ben Ammar's Quinta Communications, LTC, Scanlab and SIS went into France's version of Chapter 11 in November and have now officially shuttered. French vfx and animation firm Duran Duboi will remain open until Jan. 4. Ben Ammar purchased Duran Duboi in 2004 when it was placed in protection from creditors. At the end of last year, Quinta Industries had losses of €10 million ($12.9 million).

Duran Duboi suffered its biggest problem this year with its production of the 3-D animated feature THE BOY WITH THE CUCKOO-CLOCK HEART. The project was a co-production with EuropaCorp, but in May Duran Duboi was forced to stop production and lay off the staff due to a lack of funds. EuropaCorp filed suit and was awarded Duran's software and hardware to finish the film on its own. EuropaCorp is evaluating its options on how to get the feature restarted.

Ben Ammar said that part of Quinta Industries' downfall was due to the France government's blockage of its merger with Eclair Group on anti-trust grounds. Ben Ammar owns 43% of Eclair Group. He also pointed out the competiveness in the field, as well as French theater's digital conversion, as other factors.

CNC, the French film board, is working to make sure all the film print projects LTC was working on get finished and the prints it was storing get preserved.